


one stormy night

by abovetheruins



Category: American Idol RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Goat!Archie, M/M, Wolf!Cook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2275233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abovetheruins/pseuds/abovetheruins
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They meet in a barn, of all places.</p>
            </blockquote>





	one stormy night

**Author's Note:**

> Cook and Archie are each two different species of animals that fall in love with each other for the cookleta fic train. based on the film arashi no yoru ni.

They meet in a barn, of all places.  
  
It's this old, abandoned shack of a building, rotten in some places (but it's  _shelter_ , somewhere safe to wait out this massive thunderstorm and to Archie, who's wet and shivering and scared out of his mind, it's the best thing he could ask for).  
  
He'd been cowering in a dark corner, arms wrapped around his legs and face pressed into his knees, everything from his toes to the tips of his horns completely drenched, when he'd heard the door creak open.  
  
He'd frozen, listening, trying to figure out who or what had ventured in to his temporary sanctuary. He'd thought ( _thought_ ) that he'd heard the familiar heavy step of another goat. Couldn't tell for sure - his sense of smell had been shot by the downpour - he'd probably be sick from this storm, gosh - and so he hadn't been able to catch any scents hanging in the air. His eyes weren't of any use, either - it was pitch black inside the barn.  
  
Still, he felt safe, didn't think the newcomer was a threat, and so he'd done the only thing he could of - he'd talked.  
  
The other goat (what he'd  _thought_  had been another goat, and oh my gosh, how stupid could he be?) had introduced himself as Cook, and he was - nice. His voice was soft and deep and kind of... growly? Not in a bad way or anything, it was actually sort of soothing, even with the slight nasal quality to it (Cook wasn't faring any better than Archie in the nose department, it seemed - "Can't smell a thing because of this damn storm.")  
  
They actually had a lot in common, Cook and him. They'd both been with friends on the other side of the valley before the storm had hit, heading towards their favorite lunch spot (Archie  _loved_  the grass there - it grew in huge, lush groves towards the bottom of that wide valley, and it was  _delicious_. Dangerous too, though, if they weren't being careful - wolves liked to hunt there.)  
  
As the time had passed and they'd waited for the storm to blow over, as they'd talked about themselves and their families and friends, Archie began to feel more and more as if he'd already known Cook forever. It was  _weird_ , how easily they seemed to click, but it was nice, too.  
  
They'd ended up agreeing to meet the next day for lunch at the same spot, heading their own separate ways once the storm had finally passed. Archie had been so  _excited_ , almost bouncing as he'd left the hilltop he and his family called home, looking forward to seeing his new friend in the daylight, to see if his soft, soothing voice would face his face (and blushing at the thought).  
  
But then - but then when he'd gotten there and saw no one, when he'd realized he was the first to arrive and had sat down to wait, he'd thought, well. He'd thought he'd be meeting another goat, not... not...  
  
A wolf. Cook was a  _wolf_.  
  
He'd known it was him the moment Cook had opened his mouth, his shocked "What the  _fuck_  - " making Archie wince and cringe away, almost sent him stumbling into the barn's open doorway.  
  
This couldn't - there was no  _way_  that Cook could be a  _wolf_. Wolves  _ate_  goats, Archie had grown up with his mother and father telling him stories of goats who had strayed too far from the group, been caught unawares by the wolves who hunted them just at the edges of their sights, who went for their throats and dragged them away.  
  
"Y-You're.. you're a - " Archie hadn't been able to do anything but stare, too terrified to even  _move_  (and he  _could_  move, Archie had always been the quickest goat in his herd, could outright even the fastest predator with ease). He just couldn't connect this wolf with who he had talked to just the night before.

Cook hadn't been any better, had just stood there with his eyes (hazel, Archie had recognized fuzzily, a deep, dark hazel) wide, mouth slack in surprise (but Archie could see the faint pinpoints of sharp teeth hidden behind those lips, teeth that could tear him into shreds). Cook's ears had been twitching almost uncontrollably atop his head, extending from messy auburn hair, covered with coarse brown fur and tufted at the ends - so different from Archie, no small white horns to speak of, curling against his head. His tail swished out behind him, another trait that set them apart - Archie's own tail was tiny, tufts of white downy fur, whereas Cook's was long and ruffled, rustling against the ground as he'd walked.  
  
As he'd walked  _closer to Archie_.  
  
"W-what are you - ?" Archie had nearly turned tail and ran then, sprinted all the way back to his family and his hilltop and never even thought of this, this  _wolf_  again, but Cook had held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, voice uneven and unsure and every bit as nervous as Archie felt and said -  
  
"Wait. Just - can we start over?"  
  
And so they had.  
  
And it was stupid and dangerous and  _forbidden_  (oh gosh, Archie didn't even want to think about what his herd would do if they knew he was spending all of his free time with a _wolf_ , Brooke and Jordin would  _kill_  him, and his father, oh, his  _father_  would - well, he didn't like to think about it).  
  
But he couldn't make himself stop hanging out with Cook - he'd tried, time and time again since that day by the barn, but it just - it didn't work, okay, it was impossible to stay away from Cook, who made him laugh, who'd take him to places no wolf or goat would go so that they could be alone without worrying, who wouldn't talk about, well, about what he ate because he knew it made Archie uncomfortable.  
  
And... who'd lunge for him and roll him around in the grass let him win when they play fought. Oh, and who would  _nibble on his ears_ , oh my gosh, even though Archie had told him a thousand times he was  _ticklish_  there.  
  
It was just - after a while Archie kind of thought that he might actually - maybe - sort of  _like_  Cook (which was just stupid and inappropriate and just  _wrong_ , so), but then, he kind of thought Cook liked him, too?  
  
He would just, he'd get so  _close_ , put his face right up beside Archie's when they'd finish eating lunch and lay down on the grass, would curl his body against Archie's and it was - It was nice, okay, it was  _intimate_ , and by the time spring's rolled around the next year Archie is sure that Cook feels the same way he does.  
  
They don't talk about it, not really. They don't acknowledge what it is between them, don't bring up their families and their respective packs or hers - they don't do anything but be together in the only way they know how, and when Cook finally kisses him, one spring night when the moon is so full it looks as if it'd be capable of swallowing the sky, Archie presses in closer and just forgets everything else, about who they are,  _what_  they are, and what this could mean for them.  
  
It's just them, just Archie and Cook, and right then? That's all that matters.


End file.
